42 mm jade. I have not been able to translate the inscriptions on both sides completely in researching it . I know one side translates to " good news of a triple first in the imperial examination". A jade charm in a recent Stephen Album auction has the same inscription on one side. The other side does not match. I hope someone out there can translate it. Any additional information would be appreciated.
連中三元 天仙送(?)子 I can't quite read the right character on the lower image. Maybe 送 (song4) = send/deliver/see off But 送子 doesn't seem to be a two character compound word in Chinese. 天仙 (tian1xian1) is a goddess or female immortal OK, 天仙送子 seems plausible. An image search turns up other examples which are easier to read (image not mine):
Thank you. Nice work. I think you identified the characters . I went to the link and attempted to translate the page to English with my computer "Tianxian Gives Children" . What a fascinating language.
Yeah, I'm not sure auto translation will help much with these. I think Tianxian is just a transliteration of the first 2 characters, which I render as goddess. 送 (song4) can be to deliver or send off more than give. 子 (zi5) is a diminutive ending which usually means that rather than "child". 孩 (hai2) would be a more likely word for children. Is suppose it could be a fertility charm, but that doesn't match the other side, so I doubt that. 子 is used in all sorts of technical words not specific to children such as 電子 electron 中子 neutron 种子 seed It's more of a word ending similar to "-tron" or "-ite" in English I'm afraid I lack enough context to translate it better than that. A native Chinese speaker could probably help more.
I appreciate the time and effort you have extended. It has been helpful to me in exploring another numismatic puzzle. Thanks.
So, "zi3" could technically also refer to a title of respect/honorific for "learned or virtuous man," or something like Master (sensei equivalent). For example, Sun Tzu (Sun Zi) means Master Sun; his birth name was Sun Wu. Same for Confucius (Kong Zi). In this context, it would be something like "Goddess Deliver This Learned Man" which I think would be pretty appropriate for an examination charm. My first language was Chinese so I'm pretty sure I'm right.
Thank You. That is great. A nice and suitable inscription for this charm. Your expertise is appreciated.
